The present invention relates to a portable water purifier, especially for domestic use.
The purifier provided by the invention is designed to purify domestic running water, especially removing from it its sometimes unpleasant taste, arising from the addition of chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or Javel water) or from the decomposition of various organic materials.
Portable water purifiers of this type are already known. In these known water purifiers, the water contained in a storage container is circulated through an active charcoal based filter, by means of a pump. The filtered water then flows into a water collecting receiver.
After filtration, the filter of these devices remains soaked with water. The presence of water in the filter creates a medium favorable to the proliferation in situ of micro-organisms which are then capable of passing into the filtered water. In addition, these devices include upstream and downstream of the filter, a water circuit which is difficult to empty completely and, consequently, capable of polluting the water introduced subsequently into these devices.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of these known devices. It is another object of the invention to provide a water purifier of simple construction and ensuring rapid and efficient filtration of the water, particularly by removing from the latter bacteria or other micro-organisms capable of affecting the quality of the potable water.
According to the invention, there is provided a water purifier characterised in that it comprises a housing including:
a rotary filtering vessel which is surrounded by a compartment designed to collect the water filtered through the lateral wall of the filtering vessel, this vessel being mounted rotatably on its axis of revolution;
a rotary drive member whose output shaft is rendered fastened to the rotary filtering vessel and a filtered water flow pipe which communicates with the outside and with the bottom of the compartment designed to collect the filtered water;
a container for the water to be filtered including means enabling the water to be passed into the rotary vessel.
Filtration by centrifugation has already been used in industry to free a liquid from solid suspended particles, but not for purifying running water available to the public.
In the water purifier according to the invention, the filtration by centrifugation enables filters with pores of very small size to be utilized, so that it is possible to free the water from micro-organisms such as bacteria. In addition, the filtration of the water by centrifugation necessitates rotary drive means of very much lower power, which is advantageous in the case of an apparatus for domestic use.
In addition, after centrifugation and exhaustion of the water to be filtered, the filter is substantially dry. The proliferation of micro-organisms retained in the filter is prevented. Other features and advantages of the invention will also appear in the description which follows.